1/2 a year already!!! Happy 6 months my special boy

growing so fast,You are so good at now rolling now I really need to keep my eye's on you.
You are so tactile now and love paper & plastic and anything you can scrunch & touch & put in your mouth. You have two bottom teeth. Love sweet potato, peas, corn and rice ceral and have just started to blow rasberries with your tongue sticking out. Your hands amaze and you are always looking at them, flexing your fingers and giggling. In the afternoons you get quite grizzly and irritable but after a bath, feed and a story you are sound asleep by 8pm usually on your tummy with your head to the side and I like to come in and listen to you breathing and gently turn you onto your back.

teething & milesones

I discovered tonight that we have a second tooth beginning to poke through the gum, Number one is slowly coming through more and more each day. Oliver has been more fussy of an evening time when his teeth tend to hurt but apart from that he is not to fazed by the process. Still waking twice a night for a feed tho which is hard now the cold is setting in but I don't mind as he obviously still needs it and resettles most nights very easily. One great milestone is no more dummy!! He weened himself of it a few weeks back and the few times I tried to put it in for comfort he just spat it back out again which we are really happy about as we much prefer our boy to be dummy free. We are starting to introduce solids and have tried apple and tonight sweet potato purée home-made of coarse! which he quite enjoyed, although a little earlier than the recommended 6 months I have gone off his cues to when he was ready for something a little more substantial. He is certainly like his daddy in that he is a bit of a bottomless pit but we are taking it very slowly. I am wondering tho if the new foods in his belly have caused this latest bout of nappy rash which I'm keeping a close eye on and treating with a good slathering of zinc and caster oil cream every nappy change.

5 months

You now weigh just a little under 6.5 kilos and are 63cm in length. You are growing fast & surprising us all the time with new things. You are such a chatter box with your cooing, blowing raspberries and little squeals and giggles. You adore Rufus and are happy whenever you see him, he makes you laugh. Your first little tooth is almost through, I can see it sitting just above you gums and you have been rolling for a little under a month now which can make it difficult to change you at times because you like to try and roll away on me ;)

First family holiday

3.5 months

Holding your head up high now when your on your tummy and getting much more vocal you have started to squeal which is heading towards laughing. You are always happiest nappy free, my little nudist. You grasp for your toys now with intention and love to play with your mobiles. Everyday there seems to be more hair on your head although it is very fair. We are going on our first family holiday to Tasmania this week and your nanna and grandpa arrive tomorrow to take us all to the airport.

At 2.5 months you weigh 4.4 kilos putting on 400g in the last fortnight
You are 58cm long & your HC is 40cm. You now blow spit bubbles and are starting to coo to us. We have our little conversations now and your beautiful smiles come much more frequently

immunisations day

Comfortably tucked up in the carrier sleeping soundly after having your 8 week immunisations which were painful and nearly made me cry as well. You are now 4 kilos and 56cm long & a very healthy baby so I am happy although a little concerned about how quickly you are putting on weight so we need to keep an eye on that and possibly comp feed which I will only do once a day at the most so we can keep breastfeeding.

8 weeks

First smile on camera

5 weeks

content after a feed - we love our wondersuits!

Oliver put on 220g this week. Paul does the 7am- ish nappy change so I can get a bit more rest and brings Oliver to me in bed to feed which keeps us both happy. It's been raining here for the last few days which means we have not been able to get out of the house or dry the nappies quickly. But as our car was back from the mechanics we were able to head out for a coffee at one of the local cafe's.
The last few weeks I have noticed his little face is definitely getting more expressive. We had our first real smile at 3 weeks but still hanging out for more of those. Oliver is starting to grumble so I think it's time for a bath then bed.

1 month

chasing the sleep fairy

I have had one of those days today, I just can't seem to be able to get anything done and am feeling the lack of sleep, If he is not asleep then he wants to be held or burped or changed or feed - one of the above but won't seem to settle if I put him down which makes it impossible to get anything done. We had a bit of a unsettled night last night with Paul trying to settle Oliver to sleep and finally giving in at 2.30am and leaving it to me. He tries to persist even though Oliver is crying & crying which is not doing either of us any favours as it distresses me just as much and makes my boobs full so I have to get up anyway and express for relief and drink chamomile tea to try and calm down. I just cannot bear to hear him cry in distress, and sometimes all it is that he wants his mummy. Think we will have to sit down and debrief on that as I do need a break but we need to be able to work together, there is no point in getting frustrated & there has to be a point when you know its not happening and try a different approach. It is still very early days and it won't be like this forever. I was able to get a 2hr cat nap this afternoon with Oliver sleeping in the snuggle bed next to me in our room, He woke at 3 and has resettled by 6 so I have a bit of a breather to start organising the dinner and rinse out some nappies.

night out

last night was our first night stay away from home with oliver, we went to have dinner and stay with friends of ours in Parramatta, their little boy Tate is 6 months so they know exactly what we are going through. It is so good to have friends to talk through parenting stuff with. I had a moment yesterday, started to feel overwhelmed by it all and get a bit anxious but once we got to Jo & Troys and I talked to Jo I felt alot better. Oliver was a little unsettled to start with but once he finally went to sleep we had a really good night- he is a really calm baby and does not cry a lot but will be eyes wide and its sometimes hard to get him to drift off to sleep, he has his moments where he will cry and act hungry 5 mins after I feed him but generally a top up will calm him again very quickly. I ate dinner hands free last night! The boys cooked up some steak and prawn & chilli sausages and we had a few games of pool on their new table and watched most of kiki's delivery service on sbs I really love Japanese anime but I always fall asleep these days before it ends so I have a lot of 1/2 monies to watch. Jo is always so generous and she has lent me the 'Baby Love' book & baby tata - massage dvd as well as an activity play mat which Oliver loves as I put him down this afternoon and he was really looking about and reaching for the toys.

some nights are harder than others

Oliver is so easy during the day and sleeps well. We are having one of those days today and he is wanting to constantly feed & just won't settle which is really frustrating as well as making my boobs hurt. Daddy has him right now but I can here him fussing and crying so it won't be long before I need to take him, Paul is great when he does that for me when I really need a break.
He only had a three hour sleep today, that's not much for a 2 week old baby. Still trying to figure out all the crying, maybe it's just wind pain or possibly its being a bit overstimulated but even when we have visitors I try to keep the passing him around to a minimum at least till we get over the 6 week milestone and he starts to get into more of a routine ( fingers crossed). It
is probably more him sensing my being tired and a little moody I'm not really in the frame of mind just yet for entertaining it's still a bit overwhelming.

some nights are harder than others

Oliver is so easy during the day and sleeps well. We are having one of those days today and he is wanting to constantly feed & just won't settle which is really frustrating as well as making my boobs hurt. Daddy has him right now but I can here him fussing and crying so it won't be long before I need to take him, Paul is great when he does that for me when I really need a break.
He only had a three hour sleep today, that's not much for a 2 week old baby. Still trying to figure out all the crying, maybe it's just wind pain or possibly its being a bit overstimulated but even when we have visitors I try to keep the passing him around to a minimum at least till we get over the 6 week milestone and he starts to get into more of a routine ( fingers crossed). It
is probably more him sensing my being tired and a little moody I'm not really in the frame of mind just yet for entertaining it's still a bit overwhelming.

the Whirlwind that is life with a newborn

Moments between feeding, changing nappies, sleeping & eating. My life revolves around my little man and I'm getting used to life at a slower pace, getting things done in between feeds and taking naps when he does. We were brave and headed down to Westfield's on Saturday to spend some of our Christmas vouchers, I am still figuring out how to leave the house with the whole kit and caboodle and don't know how I'd do it without paul, something I need to figure out as Its important I can leave the house without him around, will start going for walks soon to get fit again. It gave me a chance to figure out where the lifts & parents rooms were located, I got a new pair of crocs ( the most comfiest shoes ever!) & bought oliver a cute little jumpsuit in 0000 for $9 , his 000 were falling off him but fit a bit better now we have made the conversion to cloth nappies. My family came and visited on Friday and we had a nice lunch, Oliver just slept most of the time.

Aunty Heather

Nanna Joy & Grandpa Dennis

Boxing day 07

Just got up from an afternoon mummy & Oliver nap, we must have slept for 3 or 4 hrs! good to be able to start to catch up. He has been more alert today and fussing a bit so its been hard to get anything done. When I try to put him down to have a nap he is grumbling again within 5 mins so I decided to put him beside me on the bed and have a sleep too. His little umbilical stump is starting to fall off & get a bit smelly, there is still pink stump underneath tho that hasn't dried out yet so I will have to get it checked out by the community nurse as maybe it has to be re clamped? Waiting for paul to get home now, he worked today and $40+ an hour is so worth it. Have to go out and get some supplies later, its too soon for me to attempt the walk to the shops alone with the pram or sling as I'm still healing and the pressure pushing a pram or carrying the sling on those hills is a bit much on the tummy just yet. Might go see if he will settle in the rocker long enough for me to finish with the washing.

day 7

Oliver is one week old today! it has gone so fast already. He has been a dream today, feeding and settling straight away. We did Christmas brunch & pressies with paul's family today as they won't be around Christmas day. The girls organised and cooked up a yummy spread of fruit and pancakes and eggs, bacon, hash browns - the works, really fantastic. We all got very spoilt with gifts, Oliver slept through it all tho so there were a few missed cuddles but I won't wake a him when he is asleep as that's one of the things they stressed to us not to do, he is so little so not a good thing to be overstimulated anyway. He has newborn rash at the moment, It is totally normal but as a new mum still makes me worry. I am needing less pain relief now but am still very tender, It will take me quite a few weeks to get back on track. Paul has been fantastic, he is really there when I need him & so good with Oliver. I am really really looking forward to spending Christmas day just the three of us which will be really special. Mum & Dad have bought us a beautiful hamper full of Christmas goodies and we are going to do a glazed ham & just eat and sleep and laze about with our gorgeous son. We haven't had much chance to do that since he was born with paul working and visitors coming and going, these hazy early days are so special and they grow so quickly, I'm not ready to share him around just yet I want this time all to ourselves.

day 6

Cara our doula

We had our second midwife visit today and Oliver has put on 180g in a day! so we are doing well and he is obviously getting enough breastmilk. Cara our doula came and visited today to debrief and meet Oliver, she didn't get to meet him at the hospital. I had such a long labour and then the Cesarian and she was there with us from around 6ish on sat right up till I got back to my room after recovery around 7am on Sunday morning, we are just so blessed to have had her support throughout my pregnancy and at the birth of our son. I had all the resources I needed to be informed so when things got out of control and my birth preferences went out the window I had an understanding of what & why and because of that although I ended up with a birth very different to what I had hoped I don't feel disappointed. All that matters is that I have a healthy son everything else is insignificant. He has been quite unsettled today, but I did manage to get a few hours sleep this afternoon when he finally dozed off. He has been wanting to feed constantly and wont settle when put down which makes it impossible to get anything done. I really don't want to give him a dummy & we have done well so far without but I am going to get one for during the early hours of the morning when he just won't settle as my boobs do need a bit of a break.

day 5

Sound alseep in his snuggle bed right now. It's at between 1am and 6 that he tends to be most unsettled and me overtired. We had our first trip out today to the shops to pick up a few essentials, I put him in the sling and he was sound asleep the whole time, he slept for four solid hours I couldn't believe it. When we got home I stripped him off & changed his nappy to wake him up for a feed as he needs to be fed every 2-3hrs to get back up to his birth weight he is a little under the standard 10% mark as baby's lose weight after birth and day 4 is generally the lowest weight. He seems to have a little rash that comes up and goes away again, I am not concerned as the midwife suggested it's probably just newborn rash and getting used to the outside world. She didn't come out today but called me this morning & will be out to check his weight again tomorrow. I am a little unimpressed that when I mentioned this morning I was going to take him to the chemist to see the baby health club nurse just to get an opinion she suggested I didn't as I was under hospital care and they were qualified to check him out but also at the same time wouldn't come out just for a rash! what the... I think I'll do as I please thank you! I really could not give a damm about hospital policy. I really got the impression this midwifery at home would be a little less protocol and a bit more supportive & caring.

First bath

introducing.....Oliver paul

• 16th December 2007
  
• 5.35 am
• 6.9lb/3120gm
• by emergency Cesarian